Water Bath Basics 101

By Theresa Loe on August 16, 2010

Now, don’t worry about this long list of instructions. I am covering EVERYTHING you need to know about the water bath method of canning. (aka the “boiling-water method”) This is the method used for canning high acid foods such as: jam, jelly, most fruits, pickles and tomatoes that have been acidified. It is NOT difficult or complicated. Trust me! After reading this, be sure to check out some of our canning recipes and tips for Canning the Season video.

A water bath canner or even a tall stockpot can be used for this method.

EQUIPMENT: You do not have to buy a water bath “canner” to do this. You can use any tall, heavy-bottomed stockpot with some sort of rack in the bottom. The purpose of the rack is to keep the jars from coming in direct contact with the hot bottom (which may cause breakage). I have a round cake rack that fits perfectly in a large stockpot. You can use something similar or buy an inexpensive “canner” wherever canning supplies are sold. It will come with it’s own rack.

Handy Hint: If you don’t have a rack that fits perfectly in the bottom of your stockpot, place extra jar bands (the round rings with the hole in the center) on the bottom of the pot. They work very well in a pinch. Just set your jars on top.

Water Bath Steps:

1. Clean the jars with hot soapy water (or run them through the dishwasher) and check the top rim or chips. (Discard any chipped or cracked jars.) Fill the canner halfway with clean water. This is approximately the level needed for a load of pint jars. If you are doing larger jars, add a bit more water.

2. If your recipe calls out a processing time of 10 minutes or longer, you do NOT have to sterilize your jars. (They will be sterilized during processing). If your recipe has a processing time of less than 10 minutes, you must boil the jars in the canner for 10 minutes prior to filling with food. Keep them in the hot water until ready to use.

3. Whether you sterilize or not, the jars need to be hot before filling. (Adding hot preserves to a cold jar is a great way to break a jar.) So, if you didn’t sterilize the jars, place them in the water bath canner and let them heat up as you make your preserves. Also heat the jar lids 5 minutes by placing them in hot, not boiling, water.

4. Start making your canning recipe while the water is preheating. When the food is ready, remove each warmed or sterilized jar and transfer to a wood board or kitchen towel on the counter (a hot jar placed directly on a cold countertop could break). Shake out any excess water.

5. Fill the jars leaving the headspace specified in the recipe. (“Headspace” is just a fancy term for the amount of space between the food and the top of the jar.) Too much space and the jar may not seal correctly and too little may cause food to push out during boiling. For pickles and whole fruit preserves, you should remove air pockets by running a plastic knife around the inside of the jar. Then add more liquid if necessary to ensure a proper headspace.

A ‘jar lifter’ is a handy tool to have for canning.

6. Wipe jar rims with damp paper towel to remove drips of food before placing on the flat lid. Next, tighten the screw band to just “finger tight”. Do not over tighten! (Click here for information on BPA free canning jar lids)

7. Load jars into the canner. I like to use a cool tool called a “jar lifter”. It makes it easy to grab and carry the jar in and out of the water. Always keep jars upright since tilting could cause food to spill into the sealing area of the lid.

8. After you load the jars, check to be sure that the water level is at least 1 inch above the top of the jars. (2 inches if you are processing for over 30 minutes.) If not, add more boiling water.

9. Turn heat to high, cover canner with lid, and heat until the water boils vigorously. Once boiling, set timer for the total minutes required.

ALTITUDE ADJUSTMENTS: The higher the elevation, the longer you need to process. Recipes are written for under 1,000 feet. If you are over 1000ft, adjust as follows for high altitude:

10. Keep canner covered and maintain a boil throughout the process. If water stops boiling at any time during the process, bring back to a vigorous boil and begin timing over, from the beginning. Add more boiling water, if needed, to keep the water level above the jars.

11. When jars have been boiled for the recommended time, turn heat off and remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes before removing jars. (This is a new USDA recommendation. There is a higher success rate for seals if you do this.)

12. Use jar lifter to remove jars and place them on a wood board or a towel, leaving at least 1-inch space between all, to cool at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours (If you hear a “pop”, congrats! The jar just sealed!).

13. Check seals after 12 to 24 hours by pushing down the center of lid, it should concave slightly and make no noise. If any jars fail to seal, put them in the refrigerator and eat within a few weeks. All sealed jars can be stored on the pantry shelf for up to one year.

14. Examine each jar before opening. If any seal has come undone or you notice any signs of spoilage, do not eat contents.

Theresa Loe is the Co-Executive Producer and the canning/homesteading expert on Growing A Greener World TV. She creates seasonally inspired pantry items based on homegrown and locally-sourced produce. A lifelong canner and a graduate of the Master Food Preserver Program, Theresa also studied sustainable horticulture and culinary arts. She also blogs at LivingHomegrown about homesteading & preserving. Follow her on Google+ and download her FREE CANNING RESOURCE GUIDE.

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Not unless you are making a pickle of those collard greens Beverly. If it has so much vinegar that it would be pickled, then yes. But just having a little bit of vinegar would not be enough. There are very strict guidelines for what can and cannot be water bathed. Here is a post on the difference: https://www.growingagreenerworld.com/how-to-can-vegetables-safely/

HI – my daughter is getting married in August and wants to make preserves as her wedding favors. We are able to get 64ml screw top jam jars from the factory of Greaves Jams which is in Niagara Falls, ON by the case. Can I use the same water bath method to process these little jars? We are getting approx. 100 jars. Also, how long would I process these little jars in the water bath? Can I stack them?

I am not familiar with those particular jars or lids so I would hate to give you advice on how well they would work. I would talk to the Greaves company directly. I am not sure how you would process them. But I would think that yes, you would be able to stack them. Sorry I can’t be of more help. 🙁

My family went apple picking and came home with a bushel. I made applesauce and apple butter and water bath canned/sealed just fine. I used the crockpot and kept it on high while putting in jars. I made a second batch of applesauce and had sticky jars and it is all the way to the top now. I had the same headspace 1/2 inch as before. What happened? I canned apples treated with fruit fresh after boiling in apple juice for 5 minutes. My jars siphoned, but sealed. The fruit is right under the lid. You can see bubbles when you tilt the jar coming from the bottom. They were canned over 72 hours ago. Are they shelf stable? I did another batch of canned apples and put a little less fruit and a little more juice than the time before. I kept the same headspace of 1/2 inch. Two jars are sticky and one actually lost about 1/3 liquid. I put that jar in the fridge. The other 2 jars also have fruit at top with a little juice at bottom. Kept the jars in the canner for several minutes after removing lid and turning gas off. These jars also have the bubbles as mentioned before. I would love to can the apples with success of no siphoning. It’s hard to know when you have the fruit to juice proportions right. I also use a wooden skewer to get the air bubbles out of all the jars before placing lids. Thanks for your help!

1) The sticky jars with sauce up to the top sounds like the contents boiled inside the jar. I’m not sure why this happened on the second batch and not on the first if you did it exactly the same. Now that all is cooled off, wipe off the sticky parts and remove the rings. If the jars seem to sealed, they are good to go on the pantry shelf. By keeping the rings off, you will notice if any unseal while in storage (due to siphoning). Here is a link explaining why we take off the rings: http://livinghomegrown.com/2014/02/why-remove-rings-from-canning-jars.html

2) If it has only been 72 hours and you see bubbles inside the jar, I would guess that is from the canning process and not from spoilage. Applesauce is very thick and it can take time for those bubbles to work their way up from the bottom. If you store the jars without the rings, the lids should pop off if they spoil or lose their seal due to food being under the gasket.

3) The rest of the siphoning problems you are describing really sound like it is from too rapid of a change in temperature. Keeping the canner at very hard boil and then stopping abruptly can do this (as can dropping a pressure canner pressure too quickly) I know you said that you DID wait, but be sure that when your jars are done processing (but are still in the canner), you turn off the heat and wait a full 5 minutes before removing them. This allows them to cool off slower. And a gentle boil is enough. You don’t have to blast them with everything you’ve got. 🙂

4) Also be sure the jars are up off the bottom of the canner on a rack of some sort so they are not getting too hot.

If you really feel you did all of these things, I am unsure. Especially since you had success on the first batch. But a rapid temp change or too high of a temp would be the most common causes for what you describe.

Hi! Thank you so much for this wonderful site! It’s been calming my anxiety as I am new to canning! I made a batch of pickles (packed the cucumbers, added brine, processed in water bath) but I have a few concerns. Does the amount of headspace increase in the jar after you’re done? I tried to make sure that I removed the air in the jar around the sides, and add more brine when needed, but now that my jars have been sitting for 2 weeks, I notice the liquid only goes to about the neck (or a little more). Some of the jars have pickles sticking up above the liquid. Is this ok? Thanks for any help you can give me 🙂

It can happen due to not getting all the air bubbles out, but it can also happen as the pickles absorb some of the liquid. Also, they can float due to their water content or because they didn’t get more of the air cooked out during a preheat. That is why it is a more common problem with cold packed pickles then with hot packed.

Any food that is above the liquid is okay because it is is sealed in the jar. But it will discolor and the texture will change. You can always just cut that part off and eat the rest. But it is safe.

Canning recommendations have changed a lot over the years as there has been extensive testing. They no longer recommend canning the way you describe. Although you have a seal just from the heat of the contents, it is a weak seal with a smaller amount of vacuum inside then what you would get in a water bath. It may not last long term.

The purpose of the water bath is not just to get a seal.

It is to kill the molds and bacteria that cause spoilage. Plus some molds have been found to be carcinogens. We are not talking about botulism here as this is a high acid food. But there are other bacteria that should be taken care of during the water bath process. You can certainly wait and see if you lose seals. But be sure to remove the rings before setting the jars on the shelf. That way, you will notice if a jar has lost its seal and is spoiled. Or you can store them in the refrigerator.

I just took pickled hot peppers out of the water bath and the lids are all bubbled up. What should I do? There is no way we are going to eat 5 pints of hot peppers in a week! Can I try and take the lids off and put them back on and put it back in the water bath?

Sorry for the delay in answering this. We have been in the field filming for the last week.

Whenever you have a seal failure, you can immediately (or within 24 hours) reprocess the jars with new lids. If you lids “bubbled up”, I’m assuming you meant that they buckled? You should use new lids.

Hello–thank you for your great website! Last month my daughter and I put up quarts and quarts of peaches. We cold-packed every load and processed them for the allotted 25 minutes. My daughter filled every load except the last, with no problems at all. The final load was filled and processed by me and… lord I must have done something wrong. My precious daughter was lifting that last load with a jar lifter, and they started hissing loudly. Then as she was lifting the third jar it sprayed boiling syrup out the lid all over her arm 🙁 My guilt knows no bounds. Do you know what caused this, and how can we make sure it never happens again? We’re now both a little afraid of lifting jars out of the bath….

I’m sorry to hear that happened. That was happening because of the drastic and sudden change in temperature of the jars. They were out gassing too quickly. You can prevent this by letting the jars sit for a bit longer in the canner to cool before lifting them out. (Always wait at least 5 min)

As for the reason this only happened on the last jars, I would guess that they may have been packed less densely and therefore the contents were much higher in temperature. A densely packed jar will be slower to heat up and slower to come down in temperature.

If you ever hear a hiss when lifting them out, set them back down into the water and let them set longer to cool a bit.

Don’t be afraid, but just lift the first jar out slowly so you can immediately see if there is a problem.

I have a question: new to this process, I processed my pickles and pears not realizing the water had boiled down below the rim of the jars until the timer went off. The jars still sealed fine – are they okay?

They are probably okay. Just remove the rings and keep your eyes on them. Since we are talking about high acid foods, you do not need to worry about botulism. (Only spoilage) You are watching for signs of spoilage or for the lids to come off if they did not get enough of a vacuum seal.

I am new to this process and really appreciated your very clear directions and user-friendly website. So many people have asked questions that I gave up on trying to see if someone else had the same one as I do….so here goes! I processed my pears and pickles – pears with light syrup/organic sugar; pickles with 1:1 vinegar/water. I processed the pears 30 min and pickles 15 even though I live on the Northwest coast close to sea level. What I didn’t realize is that the jars should stay covered with water the whole time, so mine boiled down, as much as an inch below the lids of the jars at one point. They all sealed……am I okay?

Hello, Yesterday I made plum juice with a steam juicer. I did not water bath them because as the juice comes out, it is near boiling and the jars are hot and sterile. I put the lids and bands on and they seal within minutes. I have done this in the past and never had a problem. Now as I do more reading, I think this method may be unsafe. So if I have quarts of plum juice at room temp and all sealed (from yesterday), can I just put them in a water bath today? I’m not sure if I would add the jars to the water bath and bring it up to boiling all at once so the jars don’t break? Thank you for your advice!

Sorry for the delay. I have been filming at organic farms in Seattle for our show this past week and was not able to answer comments from the field.

I know time has passed, but if this ever comes up again – Yes, you can process the jars within 24 hours. You should be able to place the jars into the water bath when it is warmed up (but not boiling) so that you do not break the jars. You can also freeze the jars if you left a larger headspace. I freeze my juice all the time.

If I put hot applesauce into jars and they sealed on their own without a hot water bath are are they safe to leave out of the refrigerator? I know I have done jams and jellies and I don’t do a hot water bath for them and they have always “kept” fine. Is it the same with apple sauce? If this is safe, what other canning items is this safe for? Not having to do a hot water bath just saves so much time!

Last week I had many canning projects going on that included some things that needed to be pressure canned and some that could be water bathed. With all that was going on I decided to water bath my tomatoes while Lima beans were in the pressure canner. But I accidentally only did them for 10 minutes. Is all lost? They all sealed and are so pretty.

I’m not sure I understand which were processed for 10 minutes…the tomatoes or the beans or both? In both cases, that is not long enough to kill the bacteria that will cause spoilage. In the case of the beans, it could be potentially very dangerous.

The best trick for crisp pickles is to use really, REALLY fresh veggies. Less than 24 hours from plant to jar. For every day over that, they lose crispness. This is especially true of cucumber pickles.

The second trick is stick with smaller jars so you can use the minimal amount of time in the water bath canner. Some recipes call for larger jars and they may need to be processed longer. Keeping the jars small allows you to do faster process times and the prevents you from over heating the peppers.

Hi. I started my second batch of pickled beets and was ready to pour in jars,when I ran out of propane. If I put it in the fridge will it be safe to reheat and start again the next day. Or would the brine boil down too much. Thanks .

I think that would be fine. Just be careful not to pour hot brine into cold jars and do not put cold jars into a hot water bath. The thermal shock can break your glass. Make sure your beets and jars are heated rather than cold.

Totally new to canning (and gardening, this year!) here, as in, just started TODAY!

First, let me say that your info (and answers to the questions of others) has eased my mind a great deal! THANK YOU! I was feeling rather overwhelmed and discouraged!

So. I made a batch of refrigerator (quick) pickles as my first attempt. It went well. 3 out of my four jars sealed just from the hot packing (into sterilized jars). From your answers below, I’ve learned that I’m safe from botulism, but I do have a few questions, still. (Side note- after reading reviews of the recipe, I decreased the salt, and because I’m kind of a foodie like that, I tweaked the spices a bit, as well!)

A) The (bread and butter) recipe I used called for ALL vinegar (no water/vinegar combo). Is this “typical”?

B) The recipe called for 1/4″ headspace, but after filling my jars, trying to keep the liquid/pickle ratio the same in all jars, I ended up with closer to 1″ headspace, with hardly any pickles out of the liquid. Is this ok? Especially since they DID seal?

C) After packing and applying lids, I decided I wanted to process my pickles for basement storage, instead of refrigerator pickles. As a test, I processed ONE jar (the one that didn’t seal- hoping it would seal, and it did!) in boiling water (10 minutes). Will this be ok? I’m getting conflicting answers from others, locally.

D) Lastly, if the answer to “C” is “YES!”, can I do the same with the other three jars, that are currently in the fridge- if I bring them to room temp and heat slowly to boiling? Should this be done within 24 hours?

Thanks so much for your sweet comment. I’m glad you find the information helpful!

A) Some recipes do call for all vinegar, but when they do, they usually have a lot of sugar to counter it. It is more typical to have a blend of vinegar to water. (Usually 1:1). If your recipe has no sugar, they are perfectly safe but may be a bit tart.

B)A 1″ headspace is too much headspace. It would be better to have most of the jars with the proper headspace and then have one jar short. You can mix up more brine for that one jar. But when you have too much headspace, you have more air in the jar and you can get a weaker vacuum seal. A weaker vacuum seal is much more likely to fail in storage.

C) If you want the jars to store in the basement, you must process all of them in the water bath. (Even the ones that sealed with no processing.) It is very common for a jar to seal without being water bath processed but you still have to process it for 2 reasons: 1) To get a stronger vacuum seal. 2) To kill any bacteria that can cause spoilage.

You are asking if the one you processed is okay? Well, yes it should be okay. But with a 1″ headspace, it may not hold the seal. Also after processing, you should remove the rings while the jars sit on the shelf. That way, if you lose the seal, you will know. Here is a post from my personal canning blog that describes the reasons for removing the rings for storage: http://livinghomegrown.com/2014/02/why-remove-rings-from-canning-jars.html

D) Yes. You can process the other jars within 24 hours. But I would also make more brine and top them off to the proper headspace while your add it. If your brine is all vinegar, just add a few spoonfuls of vinegar to each jar. No need to adjust the spices for that small amount.

Hi I am brand new to canning. We canned peaches with the water canning method. We did not add sugar or anything. They were not covered so the tops turned brown but the main concern is that we did not know that we had to increase the timing for altitude and only had them in the boiling canning water for 20 minutes. We live at a mile high. Are they safe? Can we put them in the refrigerator or freezer or could we recook them? They sealed.

We made another batch tonight added ascorbic acid and honey water and did them for 40 minutes. Waiting for them to seal.

Thank you. I know peaches have a high acid content but am worried because we did not adjust for high altitude. We live in New Mexico.

A mile high would put you at about 5,240 feet so you should add 10 minutes to your process times.

Since we are talking high acid foods, we are not concerned with botulism…only spoilage. I would remove the rings from the jars and keep an eye them. As long as they keep their seal and show no signs of spoilage, you should be okay. But just know that they were not processed long enough. You may not have a good seal and they may have bacteria that will cause spoilage. You won’t poison yourself. We are talking spoilage like leaving something too long in the refrigerator and it goes bad. Spoilage will usually cause the seal to break.

I new to canning. i followed a recipe for peach jam yesturday and the recipe said it would make 7 8 oz jars but when I did it, it only made 6. I measured the head space carefully and got rid of air bubbles. I followed a recipe for peach fondue jam today and had the same problem. Is the jam still ok? I don’t know what I am doing wrong.

No worries Chelsea – That happens. I do not think you are doing anything wrong. The yield can be different based on the size of your chopped fruit (small dice vs. large dice) and the juice in the fruit. Heck, even the humidity can play a roll. When you see a yield for a recipe, just know that is an estimate. You may get more or less than that.

Hello, I have just started canning and have made bread and butter pickles and just made some strawberry lemonade concentrate today. The pickle recipe said to process for 10 mins and said it would make 5 pt jars I believe. I did not have pt jars so I used two qt jars and one pt jar and processed them all for about 20 mins. My question is, if a recipe gives water bath times for pt jars to I have to increase the time if I plan to use qt jars? I used at jars today again with the strawberry lemonade concentrate and I just want to make sure I am processing long enough to make the food safe.

Sometimes a recipe needs a longer processing time when you bump up the size of the jar. But not always. I believe it depends on the contents being hot packed or raw packed. In the case of pickles, the increase to quart size generally means an increase of 5 more minutes to processing time. So, yes – you processed more than long enough. As a general rule when you are unsure, it is always best to add 5 minutes to the processing time when jumping from pints to quarts. You should be good to go! Enjoy your preserves.

I’m new to canning, and I may have made a big error when canning sand plum jelly earlier this week. I washed my jars and rings in the dishwasher on high temp wash with sani-rinse. I thought I was sterilizing them this way, but now I have my doubts after reading a few opinions online. After filling the jars, I waterbathed them for 6 minutes. My understanding now is that the waterbath has to be at least 10 minutes long to sterilize the jars. All the jars sealed and set up, but I’m wondering if the jelly is safe to consume. What is your opinion?

Hi Miss B – You are correct that you are suppose to either pre- sterilize the jars or process for 10 minutes. Given the fact that we are talking about jelly (which is a high acid food), we are only concerned with spoilage (nothing dangerous, like botulism) and that your jars were clean and high temperature rinsed, I would not worry about consuming the jelly. It sounds delicious.

I canned pickles today. I used a bag of premade brine from the store and added vinegar and water. I put my jars in the warm bath and let boil, problem is I do not know for sure it was exactly ten minutes. Do I need to do another warm bath to insure these are safe? I eyed the clock but had a lot going on….what to do? I am not enjoying this canning experience now since all I see is DANGER botulism………ugh. Do I need to throw them out?

It’s okay. You are making pickles with vinegar. If you followed the recipe, you have no fear of botulism. Your only worry is spoilage (now worse that something spoiling in the refrigerator).

I know this whole canning thing can be daunting. Deep breaths. You got this! You did everything right.

As for the time, do you feel you were close to 10 minutes? Did they seal? If your answers are yes, then I think your pickles are okay. If you are still worried or a jar is not sealed, then put them in the refrigerator. They will be safe to eat that way.

But you are safe from botulism purely for the fact that you are canning a high acid food and the spore cannot reproduce in that pH.

I am new to the canning thing but learning as I go. I recently did a water bath on tomato sauce for only 15 minutes. I cooked the sauce down for several hours and sterilized the jars. I then read that it should be more like 40 minutes. All the jars sealed but I am worried that they will spoil. Am I worrying for nothing or should I throw them out.

You are correct. You under-processed. A water bath processed sauce is supposed to process for 35 minutes (for pints). The longer time is due to the thickness of the sauce. Also you need to add lemon juice because tomatoes today have a pH that borders on the danger zone. I would not throw the sauce out but instead store it in the refrigerator and use it up sooner rather than later. So sorry about that.

I bought a bushel of Lima beans.. I have them pealed.. Can I can them via the hot water bath??? I don’t have a pressure cooker.. 🙁 if I can’t do them via hot water bath what would my other options be..

You cannot can them via a water bath unless you are making a lima bean pickle, which would be a strange recipe I think. 😮

Since you do not have a pressure cooker, I think you best option is to freeze the beans. They hold up well when frozen.

All you have to do is blanch them first in boiling water for just 2-3 minutes (to kill the enzymes that make them spoil). Pull them out of the boiling water, cool them quickly in ice water, drain them and place them in a freezer container (plastic bag or other container). Then freeze them. They will last for many months that way and stay crisp and fresh tasting.

You didn’t say if your pickles were fermented or quick pickles. It makes a difference in my answer. If they were fermented, I would be more worried that they are not done fermenting. But if they were quick pickles (cukes, vinegar, spices that you mixed up and canned), then I am betting you have normal bubbles in there.

It is normal to have bubbles inside the jar after processing. But it is not normal for them to be actively moving after 48 hours. I suspect that the bubbles you saw were normal cooling and settling bubbles. As the jars cool, a bubble or two will dislodge and rise up. This is normal. But if after the jars are completely cooled, you still see bubbles ACTIVELY moving (not when you move the jars but while they are sitting very still), then you may still have fermentation going on. If they were not fermented pickles, it would be too soon for the pickles to be going bad inside the jar after just 24 hours. In that case, you are seeing normal settling bubbles.

Hi Theresa, I was canning peaches last night and discovered that my pot was not high enough for quart jars. I decided to try 2 of my 6 filled quart jars sideways. After a 20 minute boil I took them out and decided to buy some pint jars and start over. I refridgerated my un boiled 4 jars as well as my 2 tester jars. Will I be able to transfer all contents to smaller jars and retry tomorrow or is it too late? Thanks so much!

Yes, you can transfer all the peaches to the smaller jars and process tomorrow. No problem. However, I would recommend that you heat the peaches a bit because if they have been in the refrigerator and you put them cold into the jars and then lower the jars into the water bath, you may crack/break the jars. The contents of the jars need to be room temp or heated before going into the water bath to prevent thermal shock and jar breakage. But other than that, you plan is fine. Be sure to use new lids that have been soften in warm water for a few minutes and process at the time given in your recipe.

Thank you! So, I ended up just buying a bigger pot rather than transferring all my goodies into smaller containers. I boiled for 20 min and let them stand 5 min before taking them out of the water. All the peaches have floated up to the top and there are tiny little bubble clusters surrounding the peaches. Is it ok that it looks like some of the peaches are not covered with liquid at the top of the jar? All my lids are no longer able to click up and down so I’m assuming that’s a good thing. Should I tighten the kids after they cool off? I just don’t want to open my jars a few months from now and get super sick! Thanks so much.

The tiny bubbles around the peaches is normal. They may dislodge after everything is moved to your cupboard. That is fine. Floating is normal too. And yes, having a little bit of the peaches above the liquid is safe. Whatever is above the liquid will discolor, but is still safe to eat. You will not get sick from eating them. However, many people cut off the dark parts above the liquid because they are brown and the texture is different. This is fine too.

You won’t get botulism from canned peaches. They are a high acid food. The worst that would happen is they would spoil or grow mold and you can see and smell that. It would be the same as them spoiling in your refrigerator.

I canned peaches last night and forgot to water bath them! Can I do so tonight with a fresh set of lids? Or do I need to reprocess them into new jars? They are in the fridge now, and I can’t get to them until tonight! Thanks!

You may leave them in the current jars if done within about 24 hours. But the jars must be at room temperature before submerging them into the hot water bath or they may crack. So, take them out of the refrigerator at least 2 hours before you process so they are not too cold. (A sudden change in temp from very cold to boiling hot would be too much of a thermal shock.)

Since you did not process them the first time, you should not have to replace the lids. (Because the lid’s seal has not been indented yet) However, I would remove the lids and place them in a pan of warm/hot water for 10 minutes so the rubber seal is softened. Then replace them on the jars just before processing. Process them at the original time and you should be fine.

I have a glut of pickles on the vine and I prefer the taste of fermented pickles but I have a few questions since there are more than I could reasonably store in my fridge.

if I choose to water bath can some of the jars (knowing they will lose their good bacteria), how do I know if they are “done fermenting before I seal them and do I leave in my tannin leaves during canning. Ideally I’d like to end up with some shelf stable crunchy delicious pickles to store and share out to friends and family…. Any help and or tips would be much appreciated!

LOL – No auto correct is not experienced in food preservation. You should see some of the things it came up with when I was trying to type cukes on my phone one day. Oh dear! But I knew what you meant. 😉

Hi Theresa, last year I pressure canned my Bolognese sauce and it was pretty good except that I felt the tomatoe flavor wasn’t what I thought it should be. I had cooked the sauce all the way for at least an hour and a half until the excess liquid was evaporated. So by the time you add the cream, tomatoes etc.and pressure can it some flavor is lost. So what am I to do? My dream has always been to can my own and have it ready for whenever . Should I cook it down less before I can it and take a chance on it being a little more watery? Thank you for your reply.

What you are describing is a quick pickled corn. So, yes – that is the only time that it is okay to water bath can.To be safe, the ratio should be at least 1/2 vinegar to other liquid. That is what you did. So I believe you corn is safe. 🙂

I started canning pickles last year. This year I added green beans. I am wondering if pressure cooking the green beans and then completing a water bath is a safe way to preserve them. Wouldn’t the pressure cooker kill bacteria and spores? I do not have a pressure canner—but I have a lot of green beans!

Your question is actually a complicated one. I understand your wish to can the green beans but my answer is that I would NOT do that for several reasons. But the bottom line is that: No, that is not a safe way to preserve them.

1) You are trying to find a solution around getting botulism – a dangerous and potentially deadly illness. I do not think it is worth the risk. 2) Cooking them in a pressure cooker (not a pressure canner) “might” kill “some” the spores and might NOT because it depends upon how long and what pressure you cook at. You would be guessing at best. 3) Most likely the beans going through this would result in a jar of mush anyway – so that would waste your time as well. 4) If you do not have a pressure canner, you should try freezing your green beans. They just need to be blanched first. Here is an article on how to do that: http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/freeze/bean_green.html

I followed a recipe this week for making peach relish. After boiling and stirring for 30 minutes the recipe said to ladle into jars and put on lids with rings. No water bath mentioned. All the jars sealed. But now I’m reading that you need to process everything regardless of the older method of jarring and the jars sealing on their own. So my question is- can I process the jars in a water bath with the lids that are already on them and sealed or should I replace the lids and then process?

I would replace the lids when you reprocess only because it has been longer than 24 hours and the lid’s rubber ring is not longer softened. I would warm up a pan of water, add new lids and let them sit for 10 minutes or so while you head up your water bath. Then replace the lids with the new softened lids and water bath for 10 minutes if they are 1/2 pint jars.

I just canned cherries in syrup and while the water level in my water bath canner was above 1 inch when I started, by the end of the 15 minutes, I don’t think it was that high (although I am pretty sure all jars were covered). The jars have all sealed. Do I have to reprocess?

No Julie – I’m sure your cherries are okay as long as you started with 1 inch. It is normal for that level to go down. 15 minutes is usually about the time you need to add more water. So, if you ever process longer than 15 minutes, start with 2 inches above and watch the water level. You can add more boiling water from a kettle to keep the level up. Enjoy your cherries!

Sure Amber – you can do just do one jar if you want. The process time is the same even if there are only 1-2 jars in the canner.

But if you find yourself doing many small batches, you can always use a small stockpot instead of a giant canner to reduce the time of heating up the water. Just put some sort of rack in the bottom (like a cake rack).

Hi! I am working my way through some canning and am wondering why you need to have at least an inch over the jar when processing? I find I am stressing out over every little thing and struggling to find enjoyment in it. (botulism lurks ). Thanks in advance!

Please don’t stress. You got this! If you are doing jams, jellies, pickles and tomatoes then you have no botulism worries at all. Stick with water bath processing those items and you are in the safe zone. Your only worries will be spoilage which is no more dangerous that the fruit in your refrigerator.

To answer you question, the water is supposed to be at least 1 inch over the jars to provide good heat circulation all around the entire jar during processing. If you have a long processing time (like over 20 minutes), then you should have 2 inches over the jars so that the water does not drop below the top of the jars.

If you have any more questions, ask away. And be sure to check my other blog, LivingHomegrown.com because I have a lot of beginner information there as well.

Welcome to the canning world. You will get more comfortable with each batch!

I am canning green beans by water bath method, and was wondering if i could go less than the 3 hours of cooking time my mother always told me. Last year I canned some and only in canner for 1 hour and they taste the same and lids have not popped. So, does the time really matter?

You could boil those green beans for 3 DAYS and they would never be safe for water bath canning. This is because boiling water never reaches a temperature above 212 degrees. But in order to kill any botulism spores in that jar, you must bring those beans to 240 degrees while inside the jar for a sustained amount of time. This can ONLY be achieved with a pressure canner. So, unless those green beans are pickled (bringing them into a high acid pH level) they are not safe to water bath can.

I know your mom did it before and people have done it in the past. But we know more now then we did then. Green beans are a low acid food. They can very easily carry the botulism spore. That spore WILL grow in a sealed jar if it is not heated properly. And yes, people have gotten sick doing this. Very sick.

So, this is not about whether or not the jar seals. Having a great seal does not matter if there is a toxin inside the jar.

Hey Linda, I came across this website looking for the time for water bathing green beans as well since I could not remember if it was 2.5 or 3 hours. But of course all I find is nonsense about the pressure cooker being the only choice… so I called the only expert opinon I trust, my grandmother.. from the old world when pressure canning was not around . It is 3 hours on medium heat.

What I have been taught to do is sanitize the jars/lids and only use a hot pack method. Of course I am a seasonal gardener so I can enough to last me the entire year and have never had an issue with water bathinb green beans or corn. In fact one year I did buy into this pressure canning business and went out and purchased the insanely expensive corperate invention. Even though I followed the directions to a tee my first and only batch made me and my daughter sick. Needless to say I threw the entire batch away and gave the pressure cooker to the thrift store. My point is this it is not just the heat that kills the bacteria it is also the process of removing the air so that the bacteria can not grow. Obviously I did not remove all the air when sealing the cans because they did seal properly but it showed me that it is the process that is the most effective not the equipment. And as I have done for over the past 5 years I have just completed another beautiful batch of green beans with only a water bath that my family will enjoy all winter.

Most jams only take 5 minutes in a water bath canner. A few take 10 min. if they are thicker jams. Since I don’t know which jam you are making, you could play it safe and do a 10 minute processing time across the board. What I like about the 10 min processing time is that you do not have to pre-sterilize the jars if you process for 10 minutes. (The jars get sterilized during the processing) But if you go with 5 minutes, you must boil or otherwise sterilize the jars first. For most of my recipes, I process for 10 minutes for this reason.

If the jars did not lose any of the contents during that time (meaning that they did not boil the jam out of the jar), then there is no risk from a safety standpoint. It should be fine. You didn’t mention the jars loosing contents so I am betting that didn’t happen. The only worry when that does happen is that the jam will get on the rim of the jar (under the lid) and prevent a good seal.

So if the jars looked fine, then my only worry would be that the jam may be a bit overcooked. The flavor or texture may be different from what you normally get. But it would still be safe.

I have no idea what I did but I am afraid I messed up bad… I just tried making watermelon jam for the first time and I followed the directions exactly like it said and the yield was supposed to be 10 cups and I ended up with 5 it was kind of thick after I boiled it but it still poured easy, it just gelled up if it had a lot of contact to air and cooled fast. After the water bath it was liquid like normal I just don’t know how I could have ended up with half of what I was supposed to

It looks like my last comment disappeared I am sorry if this shows double

I do not think you did anything wrong and the recipe is fine. It sounds like a recipe issue to me. Many times, a recipe will come out with a different yield do a low or high water content in the fruit and/or the recipe not being written properly. Other factors can come into play too such as humidity levels. But since your recipe is so far off in yield, I am betting that it is just a badly written recipe. That does not mean it is not safe, just not accurate for yield.

If you followed your recipe and your final product gelled okay, it should be fine. Jam is a very safe product so you don’t have any safety issues to worry about here. Your only worry is if it gelled and sealed. If it didn’t gel, then you can use it as syrup or in cocktails or dessert recipes. If it didn’t seal, you can store it in the refrigerator and use it up in a month.

But it sounds like it gelled and sealed, right? The fact that you got less probably means that you have a more concentrated flavor because more of the water boiled off…and that is a good thing!

Let me know how it tastes! And make a note on your recipe that this happened in case you ever make it again. I’m betting, the recipe is a little off. But it is still safe.

Thank you so much when I woke up this morning everything was sealed and it had jelled we will see if it is super thick or not it called for 2 boxes of pectin but when I tasted it on the ladle after I put it in jars it sure was yummy like jolly rancher candy, thank you so much I am a lot less worried now-you are amazing

I am canning bread and butter pickles for the first time. My water bath pot did not have enough room to hold all 12 jars. Two were left behind. I decided to mark them and process per the directions after the others were done. Will this be safe? Should I discard them? Please let me know. Thanks!

Hi, I just canned a lot of pickles and green beans (my first time). I used the hot water bath but only filled the pot with enough boiling water to cover half of the jars. The jars all sealed just fine, is that okay? I just realized that the water should completely cover the jars…

Although the jars are probably okay, the seals may not be strong. Over time, they may lose their seal. I would just try to eat them right away or store all the pickles in the refrigerator to be sure. With pickles you do not have the worry of botulism. Your main worry is spoilage. You will be able to tell if there is a problem with them.

But something you said has me more concerned. When you said you water bath canned green beans, do you mean green bean pickles? I just want to be sure you know that you cannot not water bath can straight green beans. They must be pickled (high acid) to be water bath canned. Doing so is very unsafe.

Having air bubbles inside a jar after processing is normal because the contents will boil inside the jar while processing. As long as the bubbles are no longer moving (they stay still until you move the jar), they should be okay. If you shake the jar a bit, they may dislodge and move up and be gone and that is okay too as long as new ones do not appear.

BUT…

I have a question because you did not mention your process for those beans – You pressure canned those green beans, right? You absolutely CANNOT water bath can green beans unless they are pickles. It is extremely dangerous to do so. If they were pressure canned, you should be fine. If they were water bath canned you must throw them out or refrigerate them immediately.

I’m just wanting to make sure you get started off on the right foot. Canning is a fun thing to do – but you have to follow certain guidelines.

We canned green bean quarts, all popped and sealed correctly. But I noticed today a lot of bubbles and several jars and I opened 1 jar and it had a smell to it. We made sure there was no bubbles. We did a water bath and times it for 10 minutes after it boiled. can you tell me what we could have done wrong? I did it last year and no problems we are eating the beans and I did it the same way.

If I am understanding your comment correctly, you are saying that you water bath canned green beans that are not pickled? You absolutely CANNOT do that safely.

DO NOT EAT THOSE GREEN BEANS!

Green beans are a low acid food and must be pressure canned in order to store in a jar at room temp. Doing it any other way is dangerous. (VERY dangerous.) The fact that you did it before and no one got sick means you were lucky. From your description, you were not so lucky this time. They are showing signs of bacteria spoilage and since they are low acid, you may very well have the botulism toxin in those jars. You cannot see or taste the botulism toxin. So, do not taste. You cannot boil them to safety – the toxin will survive boiling. Do not eat. Throw them out.

I processed 4 pints of green beans in my pressure canner. Something didn’t seem right. I accidentally only processed them for 10 minutes…should have been for 20 minutes. The jars have popped and are sealed. However, I know they need to be reprocessed. Can I just put them back in or should i open the jars and start over?

You only need to open the jars if the liquid level is too low (need more added) or if you ever have jars that were processed for the proper time but did not seal (then you open the jars to check the rim for nicks).

Since you just didn’t reach the proper time, you can reprocess them within 24 hours and they will be fine. Don’t wait longer than 24 hours as the bad bacteria can start to grow at that point. If you do it quickly, there is no problem.

All is NOT lost. Since we are talking jam, you are in a pretty safe zone. But those jars probably have a weak seal. You have 2 choices:

1) Option 1: If it is a small batch, you can keep them in the refrigerator until you open and eat them. That way if they do lose their seal, they would still be okay to eat if it had not been too long. You need to be very watchful for mold. If you see mold, you have to throw out the jam.

2) Option 2 – (which is what I would do): Is to simply process the jars in the water bath canner NOW. It’s always best to do this when the jars are still warm. But even though they are now room temperature, it is okay to do. Just process them as you would the first time using the same processing time. Just make sure the jars are room temp before dropping them into the water bath. If they are cold, the thermal shock can crack them. Once processed, you should be good to go!

Yesterday I canned for the very first time, it was so much fun but I want to make sure that I did everything correctly. I do not know anybody who cans so its hard to find advice from close friends or family. I made strawberry rhubarb pie filling. I made the recipe as directed but then it said to do a 25 minute boil bath… to be on the safe side I did 30 minutes. I also kept my jars and lids in a sink full of hot water until I was ready to use them. But I keep seeing adjust the time for different elevations. This might be a silly question but elevation of what? Do you think 30 minutes was enough time?

First, congrats on your first canning adventure. Sounds like you did it all fine.

The elevation is referring to what altitude you live at. I live at the beach, so my elevation is about 100 feet above sea level. But if you live in the mountains, you might be at 3,000 feet above sea level. This is important in canning because water boils at a different temperature at different elevations. It actually boils sooner the higher you are. So when you are at a high elevation and we say “boil water”, your water is boiling at a lower temperature than 212 degrees. To compensate for that, recipes tell you to process for a longer time to be sure that the inside of your jar reaches the proper temperature to be safe.

Hope that helps.

If you are want to know your exact elevation, google your city name and the word elevation. You can find it that way.

Yes, you can “can” applesauce that is made ahead if it is still fresh (made within the last week or so). But you must heat that sauce up to a boil before putting it in the jars. This is so that the internal temp reaches the proper temperature during the processing time in the water bath canner. Follow the instructions found on this post for timing: https://www.growingagreenerworld.com/applesauce-recipe/

I recently canned spaghetti sauce with ground beef. Canning does strange things to meat. It has a completely different taste and texture. Any tips to preserve the integrity when canning meat? Also, if I am canning soup that calls for 35 minutes at 10 lbs and I add a 1/2 pint of canned bacon, do I need to increase my cooking time to 90 minutes at 10 lbs. Do I increase time for a meat recipe? or can I process as I would the soup because the meat was previously processed? Thank you in advance for your advice, I just read through all the questions and answers on your page here… conclusion- you must be a saint!

Glad you are liking the info here on the website. In answer to your question: When it comes to pressure canning, I am not comfortable advising on adjusting the timing because of the danger of botulism. There are too many factors involved that I cannot speak to such as other ingredients in the soup and the over all pH, thickness, etc.

I always stick to USDA approved recipes and guidelines. So, I would refer you to the USDA guidelines which are online at the following link. Guide #4 has a whole section on pressure canning soup. Hopefully it can help guide you. I’m so sorry I can’t be of more help on this one!http://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/publications_usda.html

Oh and I know what you mean about the texture of the meat. Not too much you can do except to freeze rather than can. To me, freezing keeps the texture integrity better than the pressure canning does.

I wrote to you while in the process of canning so I went ahead and used the longer processing time of 90 min. We just opened a jar for lunch and it is, by far, the best of my canned full-meal recipes. Creamy potato soup w/ bacon (added 1/2 cup of milk after opening). Yum 😉

My reasons for canning are for emergency stocks, (winter power outs, etc.), so I’m trying to preserve foods that don’t require electricity to store, otherwise I would be doing a lot more freezing. Thanks so much for writing back. I’ll check out the recipes on the site you recommended.

No Donna. You cannot just add an acid to ANY recipe and water bath it. There are too many factors here. What food are you talking about? How much acid are you adding? (For example, it must be a certain ratio to get the right pH and in the case of a vegetable which is a low acid food, you must pickle it to water bath can.) Also, how thick is the food? What size is the jar? There is no blanket statement I can make regarding adding a bit of lemon juice or vinegar to a recipe to make it water bath cannable.

I am new to canning. I just made apple pie filling and boil bathed the jars for 20 minutes. After I finished the boil bath, I remembered that I forgot to add the 3 TBL of lemon juice to the pie filling. Every other step was followed perfectly. How will this affect my pie filling? I read on other websites that the lemon juice protects coloring and flavor. What do you recommend?

You are correct. The lemon juice in the recipe is to keep the apples from getting too brown. It also helps with the acid level and pH, but apples are naturally in the “safe zone”. I think your pie filling is fine. I would try to use it up sooner rather than later only so that your color and texture stay nice. The lemon juice really does make a difference there. The filling is fine as far as safety is concerned.

Congrats on tackling your first pie filling! I’m sure it will be awesome!

I made pepper jelly today but forgot the water bath process. My jars are cool now. (Its been about 6 hrs) can I, or should I do a water bath now even though the jelly and jars are cool. Thanks in advance.

Since it has been a few days and the jars are cool, the proper procedure it so open the jars, empty the jam into a pan and reheat it. Refill the jars, add fresh lids and then waterbath can. You are supposed to do this because cooled jam takes longer to get to the proper internal temperature. So in other words, the processing time would not adequately raise the temperature of the jam (in the center of the jar) to kill molds and bacteria that cause spoilage and it would not get hot enough to make a super strong vacuum seal. Hot jam placed in a hot water bath, gets to the proper “canning” temp immediately. The other reason for reheating the jam is because you run a risk of jar breakage if you put a cold jar into the hot water bath.

You probably got a very weak vacuum seal just by filling the jars and putting on the lids. But proper USDA procedures require the water bath method not only to create the strong seal, but to also kill mold and bacteria.

Theresa, Can I use my own tomato sauce recipe or do I have to follow recipes specific for canning? Also can I use lids that I have used previously for freezing? This will be my first time canning as I have always put my sauce in the freezer but would like to start canning. Thanks for all your advise.

It is always safe to freeze your homemade sauce. But with canning, it is best to use an approved tomato sauce recipe because if your personal sauce recipe has any other vegetables added (garlic, onions, etc.), it will shift the pH into the danger zone. And even if it does not have other veggies (or only a little), it is difficult to say how much acid you need to add to make it safe. So for canning, you need to work with a tested recipe.

As for the lids, I think they would be okay as long as you do not see an indentation in the rubber gasket. The reason we only use them once in canning is because the vacuum seal presses them very hard into the rim and creates an indentation. That dent can be the cause of leakage if you try to reuse it. In the case of freezing, you should not have cranked it down too hard and therefore, there should not be a dent in the gasket. So, if you don’t see a dent, they should be okay.

I am unsure. I have scoured all of my sources and everything shows pint jars as well. I am wondering if perhaps it is not recommended to do quart jars of pickled squash? I’m sorry that I don’t have an answer for this one. Perhaps one of our other readers will.

I recently canned peach mango salsa and corn relish. In both instances the liquid did not completely cover the fruit/corn when I filled the jars. They all sealed but now I am wondering if there will be a problem with them?

If we are talking about just a little bit above the liquid line, they are fine. But you need to know that any food sticking above the line will darken (but still stay safe). However, if the amount of food sticking up above the line is excessive (1/4 of the jar or more), then the food should be refrigerated and eaten within a few days. In the future, always make sure the food is covered before processing. Make more brine if you need to (using the same vinegar/salt ratios, etc). The reason you want to make sure it is covered BEFORE processing is because sometimes you have liquid lost DURING processing and that can make your liquid line even lower. If it is too low, the food will not last on the shelf and will begin to spoil.

I just canned 14 qts of tomato juice. I followed all the correct canning procedures, boiled jars, lids, and rings. I did not have a canning rack, so I just put my jars in a large stainless steel pot. They were just barely covered by water and I processed them for 45 min. It has been a week and the jars are well sealed. Do I need to dump out all the juice or do you think they will be ok. I mainly use the juice for soup and chili. I am now looking for a pot with a rack before I do any more canning. Thank you, Pam

The purpose of the rack is to keep the jars off the bottom (in direct contact with the heat). It is more of an issue of preventing breakage. So if your jars survived that, the missing rack is not an issue on this round. But yes, you should get one for future canning.

I am more concerned with the fact that your jars were not covered by at least an inch of water. Is that what you are saying? After 45 min of processing, were they still covered? It sounds like you used the proper timing and I assume you acidified the tomatoes before canning. But if they were not covered completely by the water for the whole 45 minutes, you may have a problem. If they were not, I would immediately get a taller canner and reprocess all the juice. Pour all the juice into a pan and heat to a boil. Wash the jars and rings and get new lids. (You cannot reuse lids). You do not need to sterilize the jars because they will be processed long enough to do that for you. (Any process over 10 min sterilizes during the process). Refill your jars and do the whole thing again and be sure that the jars are covered by at least an inch of water for the entire process.

A second option (if all of that is too overwhelming) is to freeze the juice. But to do that, you need to: open each jar, remove some of the juice so that you have 1.5 inch headspace (to give room for expansion) and add back the lid and ring. (No need to replace the lid as you are not “canning” it). Place the jars in the freezer.

Teresa, Thank you for your help so far. Yes I did use lemon juice in the tomatoes. The big pot I used was not big enough to cover the jars by 1″, but while boiling the boiling water was splashing on top of the jars. I kept checking them and added water to the pot as necessary to keep them covered. I have since bought a pressure cooker, and could use that to reprocess, and I am looking for a taller big pot. I am concerned about the flavor after that much processing. It has been a week, will they be safe to reprocess, or would I be better off freezing them. After all of this, I should be an expert at this next year. Once again, thank you for your help. Pam

Okay – I’m trying to make sure I understand so I give you the right info. You did the right thing to keep adding hot/boiling water to the pot. But are you saying they were never covered by 1″? They only had a minimal amount of water? Or are you saying you kept it right about at 1″? It sounds to me like you never had enough water in the first place and they were never covered by 1″ of water…in which case, I would freeze them. It is faster, easier and you won’t cook them anymore.

The double processing affects the texture more than flavor and freezing also affects the texture. But we are talking juice here, not whole tomatoes – so texture is not as important. If it were me, I would freeze to save myself time since you are still looking for a taller pot.

You say you now have a pressure “cooker” but I’m hoping you meant to say that you got a pressure “canner”. You need a canner for canning. A pressure cooker is not meant to be used for canning. (They are two different things but sometimes people accidentally use the names interchangeably.)

And yes – You will officially be an expert after this!! I should be able to send people to you for advice. Tee hee.

It certainly would not hurt to reheat if you wanted to. Reheating just kills the mold and bacteria that cause spoilage and off flavors. It should have happened when you canned the first time. But freezing prevents those molds and bacteria from growing anyway – so you should be okay going straight to the freezer if you wish. Just follow the steps I laid out in the other comment where you need to reduce the amount of juice in each jar so that you have enough headspace for expansion of the frozen juice. I would use all the juice up within 6 months for best flavor.

I canned 4 quart jars of peaches (from my garden) by the water bath method. I followed all directions, used a chop stick to get out the air, correct time for canning, etc. After processing, I left them on the counter for 3 days, but when I was ready to put them in the basement for storage, I notice air bubbles rising in each of the jars. I immediately placed them in the refrigerator and we have eaten one jar. My questions are: How can there still be air bubbles in the jar and can jars that have air bubbles in them after processing be stored long term? Needless to say I am disappointed as we wanted to eat the peaches during the winter and not now. Thank you

So were the bubble moving (like soda or cola)? Or where they rising when you moved the jar?

The reason I ask is because it is very normal to have a few bubbles left behind in canned fruit. They might come loose and move occasionally, but otherwise they stay put until the jar is disturbed. If you have active bubbles (that seem to be moving quite a bit), then you have some fermentation or spoilage going on….and that is not good. If that is happening, the jars will off gas when you open them or burst the seal while setting on the shelf. If you find a jar like that on the shelf or if you ever open a jar that sort of explodes when you open it, you should not eat it.

As I’m sure you know, we always try to remove the air bubbles after we fill the jar (as you have done) so that we don’t lose the headspace. But it can be really hard to get them all out and you should not feel bad if you left a few behind. I suspect that since it had only been 3 days, the bubbles you saw were the normal (left behind) kind. But only you can judge if they were moving around inside the jar. And if the peaches were heated before going inside the jars, any yeasts should have been killed – so that would eliminate fermentation.

Theresa, Thank you for explaining the difference. I feel much better now. The bubbles only moved when I tilted the jar, therefore I have to assume the peaches are o.k. Just checked one of the glasses in the fridge and there is no movement. By the way I had added a tablespoon of rum to the peaches before I closed the jars and they are delicious. Hannelore

Alright! Things didn’t feel right until I just dumped all the peaches in the pot and started fresh. Now I’m not worried about them and your comments strengthened my canning experiences the further. Thank you Theresa.

It doesn’t work that way Paula. The amount of time in a water bath or pressure cooker depends upon the pH of the product, its thickness, the size of the jar and your altitude. You can’t translate one to the other with a simple formula.

Yes you can do the salsa in a pressure canner but how long depends upon the pH of the recipe and the size of the jar. So I am unsure. There are some salsa recipes that have enough acid to be okay in the water bath canner. You can get a recipe like that from this site and clicking on guide #3. These are USDA approved salsa recipes and are very safe:

Thank you again. After doing research and reading more posts I decided to dump all the peaches and liquid into a pot and heat them up so the internal temperature would be high to start and I rewashed the jars. Then I placed hot peaches into clean jars and added new lids. The jars are in the canner now. I bit overwhelmed but lesson learned. They seem a bit soft and my original 7 quarts are now 6 but que sera. Hopefully after all the work they will still taste delicious and be safe as you stated. Was this okay, heating the peaches and reprocessing?

Absolutely it was okay to reheat. I was just trying to give you the minimum effort to still be safe. I think I would have done the same. Yea! I think you are good to go now!

And one more thing to remember in all of this…Peaches are a high acid food. You cannot get botulism from them. Worse thing that would have happened is that they would have spoiled. Okay? Mold and bacteria are not “good” for you, but you certainly would not have killed anyone. Whew!

Sorry. After posting my first comment about the water level of my bath canner I read some of the other posts and did in fact reprocess my peaches once already without removing the sealed lids. I have since removed the lids and am placing new lids on my peaches. Will they still be okay to eat being processed three times now? :-/. Or should I toss them out?

They would be perfectly safe to reprocess 3 times – but your problem will be that they will be a little “cooked”. They will store well, but when you open them they will be soft (perhaps a bit mushy). I would use them for sauce, glaze, ice cream topping, any recipe where texture doesn’t matter. Flavor will still be delicious.

I checked and it seems that USDA recommendations say that if they have not been refrigerated (are at room temp) AND it has been less than 24 hours since last processing, it is okay to just put the room temp jars into the bath and process. I’m surprised by that, but that is what it says. Yes, you will need to add liquid to bring up the headspace.

I’m sorry you had such an ordeal. But remember, you have still captured that delicious flavor. Only the texture will suffer from everything that happened. I’m sure you will find many delicious ways to use them. Just think of how yummy these will be spooned over homemade ice cream!

I processed peaches a few hours ago and when my timer went off I noticed the water level was about 1/2-1 inch below the lids. What should I do with these peaches? Reprocess? Thank you for your help and time.

Yes, you need to reprocess within 24 hours of the first time. Since they were not covered by the water, they probably did not get up to temp inside. Remove the lids, wipe the rims of the jars, add new lids (you can not reuse the old lid), add the ring and reprocess.

I have a question… I canned peaches and pears two weeks ago but was told that they didn’t need to be hot water bathed . Now the lids are bulging up can I reprocess these and kill the bacteria enough to recan and use?

Hi! I just stumbled across this site and I’m soo thankful I did. It’s very informative and easy to follow! Thank you!! I made muscadine jelly yesterday for the first time in my life (clueless about canning) my grandma made it for me as a child and it was my absolute favorite! Our muscadines are growing abundantly and I wanted my children to experience a taste of heaven! Here’s my issue I didn’t have a canning rack or anything;/ I will now go purchase one. I washed my jars in hot soapy water and boiled them in an aluminum stock pot for 10 min. They were not upright but water completely covered them and they didn’t crack. I kept them hot in the oven and the poured the hot jelly in them. I put the lids on and boiled them for 5 minutes as the recipe said. I am worried though bc they were not upright they were laying down on the bottom of pot:/ does this make a difference in safety? They also don’t really seemed to have gelled like they should but I know that’s just a recipe issues. The seals popped as soon as I pulled them from the water bath. Are they safe to eat if they weren’t boiled up right and there was no lid on pot? Please help me!! Thank you for your time!

So I think you are saying that the jars laid down sideways during the boiling of the empty jars (before you filled them)? That’s perfectly fine.

If you are saying that the jars tipped over sideways during the processing (and they were filled with jelly at the time), you may have some seal failures. They are fine for now, but check your seals as time goes by to see that they stayed sealed. What happens if they tip over is that some of the jelly may get under the lid and it won’t make a tight seal. But they are otherwise okay.

It sounds to me like you did everything perfectly. Tipping over happens to the best of us. So glad you dove in to make special memories for your kids!

I just canned tomato sauce, boiled the jars for 40 minutes and when I went to take them out I notices that there was no longer 1 inch of water above them Stupidly? I added some water (not hot!) and set it to come back to a boil. Now what? Can I just boil it another ten minutes or so? or is it way worse than that?

If I assume that they are quart jars (which should be water bath canned for 40 minutes) and the water was either not covering the tops of the jars OR was barely covering the jars. Then start AGAIN. Bring the water back up to the boil. Place in the jars and time it for 40 minutes. (10 min won’t work) It takes 40 minutes for the heat to penetrate the center of the thick sauce and keep it at the high temp long enough to kill the bacteria and mold.

I know it sounds like over kill, but if they did not have water covering them, you really do not know if you reached the temperature in the center.

First, the “ping” does not mean you have a strong vacuum seal. I have had empty jars ping from sitting in a hot car. But most importantly, the seal is only part of the reason to water bath can. The canning process also brings the internal temp up to a level to kill bad bacteria and molds.

i’m a first time canner. i started last weekend making jam, peppers, beets, red beet eggs and tomatoes. i need help in my next step, i want to can green beans and squash and zucchini (i have about 20lbs of both from my garden). my pressure canner is to smaller for quart size jars. can i hot water can them? i don’t want to pickle them. i have read website after website about this question and some say yes you can use hot water canning for them, but i have also read no you cant. can you please help????? also do you have any receipes for them????? thank you for your time angela

You are smart to ask. You should absolutely NOT water bath can vegetables. It is very dangerous to do so because you can get botulism.

Do people do it? Yes. And they argue that they never have killed anyone so, it is okay

Is it wise? No because it is a crap shoot. You “might” be okay. You “might” not. Not worth it.

With so many people doing it wrong, do people ever get sick? YES!!!

To understand the dangers and the reasoning behind what I am saying here, go to this post about canning veggies:Canning Vegetables Safely

You must either pressure can or freeze your vegetables if you do not want to pickle them. Freezing is fast and easy. You just have to blanch them for a few minutes first to kill the enzymes that make them soft.

Good luck! And thanks for being so smart about the safety. Many people do not take it seriously. 🙂

I’m VERY new to canning. Last weekend was my first try with raspberry jam in a water bath. Turned out great so I bought a large water canning pot and rack that will hold 14 jelly jars. Most recipes only make 7-8 jars. Today I made blackberry jam and put the filled jars down into the hot (not boiling and no flame) water while I made strawberry jam and filled those jars. I then added those jars to the rack before bringing the water to boil and processing for 10 minutes. Was that ok to let the first batch sit in the hot water that long? All 14 jars popped and sealed as soon as they were out of the water.

As for your question – That was a bit unorthodox, so I had to think it through. It was probably good that you put the first batch in the hot water and kept it hot. And yes, I think the jars will be fine. If anything, you over processed a bit because you had them in the water while you brought it up to temperature. And it is very good that timed it AFTER you reached a boil. That 10 min boil does 2 things: creates the seal and kills bacteria and mold that can cause spoilage. So you did all that correctly.

However, in the future it would be better to process the two batches separately (right after they are made) and this is why:

Although over processing does not make much difference with jams, it does make a difference with things like whole fruit or pickles. Over processing can change the texture and color of your finished product. But it does not change the safety. So you are good there.

Also, it is good to process each batch immediately after making it because if it cools too much, the internal temperature will not get high enough to kill the mold/bacteria within the processing time. Putting it in the hot water helped a lot. But I would worry if you made this a habit because if you waited too long, the internal temperature would drop too much.

So for this time, you are okay. Just do the future batches one at a time. You can boil the first batch in the water bath while you are cooking up the second batch. I do that all the time.

The jars should be okay. I sometimes do batches of only 2-3 jars in my giant canner. The kind with the dividers are best, but not necessary. Just have a steady boil and the weight of the jar should hold it in place. If you find a divided rack at a garage sale or something, you can make the switch then. I think you are okay for now. 🙂

OMG! Thanx for getting back so soon! I did end up putting lemon juice, 2 tbsp in every quart jar, when I ran out I used a half tsp of citric acid, but I am still worried, would I be best to dump the mixture into a big pot and refill the jars or just heat them up in a water canner with new lids and then place in the pressure cooker? Also I am desperately hunting down to either buy one in this small town this morn or borrow one, how long do I have to reprocess do ya think with the jars in the fridge?

Good job adding the acidification. That is important to do even for just straight tomatoes -For added safety. Tomatoes are naturally close to the danger zone on the pH scale so USDA recommends adding acid to make double sure. That is why adding other veggies can be tricky because that little bit can actually push the pH in the wrong direction. (Hence the recommendation to pressure can when other veggies are involved).

Before we freak out here, maybe you should tell me how many tomatoes, onions, peppers you combined. Are we talking just a few tablespoons of added veggies or are we talking cups? Why don’t you tell me your actual recipe (including the amount of acidification you did) because it may be that you are okay and do not need to redo these.

If you do need to pressure can (due to too many veggies or not enough acidification), the best way to do this is to pour all the contents into a big pot to heat up. That way, you can be sure the tomatoes are heated all the way through before you put them into a new jar. (wipe rims, add NEW round lids, add rings, etc)

I need to see your recipe to tell you a recommended time for pressure canning. Can you type it here?

I didn’t use a specific recipe but I did use cups of onion and cups of green pepper, bad I know… I’m still considering freezing it too? Can you recommend how? I’ve just borrowed a pressure canner but it looks intimidating….ugh, help!

I actually gave instructions on freezing just a few comments down for someone else – but I know it can be hard to weed thru over 100 comments on this post! So, here they are for you. It is really very easy to freeze:

You can open each jar, pour the tomatoes into a freezeable container (see my note below) and freeze them. When defrosted, they will have the texture of stewed tomatoes (a bit mushy like sauce) but the flavor will be the same.

Note on freezing: If your jars are straight sided and fairly new, they can be used for freezing. They may even have a freeze line mark on them. But you need to open each jar and remove some of the contents to give you a 1.5 headspace (so the contents can expand). Then place back on your lid/ring and pop into the freezer. They should be used within 6 months for best flavor.

I stupidly forgot to put the lid on the pot while canning my peaches, this was over a week ago and I’ve been reading and realized they maybe hazardous to eat. They seemed to boil but not a rolling boil like they should. Just wondering what to do…. Also stupidly took advice from an ” experienced” canner, who said I could add onions and green peppers to my tomatoes and use a waterbath method. I’ve since learned it’s not ok to do this, While still warm I put all my sealed jars in the fridge to hopefully salvage. I just finished canning around 4 pm today and put them in the fridge at 7 pm. Can I keep them and reprocess in a pressure canner with new lids? Or can I freeze it? Help!!

First, your peaches are fine. The lid being on is just to keep the boil steady. Since we are talking peaches (a high acid food), they should be fine if there was even a standard (minimal) boil for the processing time. Even if you only had a simmer, the worst case scenario would be that your jars would not hold a seal or they would not last as long on the shelf (and spoil). No poisoning. You are fine.

As for the onions and green peppers with the tomatoes – Good save!! You did exactly the right thing!! Yes you can pressure can them (heat them up first so that you are adding hot contents to the jar and hot jars are going into the pressure canner). OR freeze them – which would be the easiest fix.

Since I do not how much onion/peppers were added or what the final pH is. It is hard to say if you could bring the pH to a safe level for water bath canning. But in the future, you may be able to find a tested recipe that has added vinegar or lemon juice to a recipe with minimal onion and pepper. An acidified mixture can be water bath canned. But it does not sound like your recipe was acidified or how significant the pH change is. (But by adding them, there IS a change in pH). So you were extremely smart to do what you did. You saved it!

I just finished 17 quarts of tomatoes in their own juice. I used the water bath method. Processed into hot jars, hot lids, hot pack for 45 minutes. I now read that Ball has a process time of 1 hour 25 minutes with a 10 minute in bath cool down. Did I under process? I am afraid to use them even though they are sealed . Should I reprocess since this was 48 hours ago?

You are correct that the proper processing time in a water bath is 85 min. You did under process. You have 2 choices for a fix:

1) You can pour all the tomatoes back into a pan, heat back up and re-can in the water bath for 85 min.

2) You can open each jar, pour the tomatoes into a freezeable container (see my note below) and freeze them. When defrosted, they will have the texture of stewed tomatoes (a bit mushy like sauce) but the flavor will be the same.

Note on freezing: If your jars are straight sided and fairly new, they can be used for freezing. They may even have a freeze line mark on them. But you need to open each jar and remove some of the contents to give you a 1.5 headspace (so the contents can expand). Then place back on your lid/ring and pop into the freezer.

Thank you, thank you, thank you 🙂 You just made my day! I really appreciate your quick response. I’m so happy that the many jars of jam we worked so hard on are still good to go. Excited to keep canning (and keep learning!). Thanks again!

Hi! First off, thanks for all the wonderful advice – it’s HUGELY helpful to my husband and I as we are newbie canners 🙂 I’m hoping you might be able to help me as well. I have a couple dilemmas that have come up during our canning this weekend and I’m feeling a little concerned. Everything we did this weekend was peach jams and jellies (a low sugar peach jam, a bourbon peach jam, and a jalapeno peach jelly):

1) In my previous jam canning I’ve had recipes that have called for processing the jars for 10min in a boiling water bath so I haven’t sterilized the jars. The recipe I used yesterday only called for a 5min process and it wasn’t until I double checked today that I realized I should have sterilized the jars first. Are those jars of jam and jelly safe? Should I put them back in a boiling water bath? Empty the contents, reheat, and reprocess? Trash them? What are the risks?

2) I have a couple jars of jam that were my last ones of the batch that didn’t quite hit the 1/4″ headspace (there was close to 1/2″ of headspace left). I processed them and they sealed fine. Are they still good? Do they need to be eaten right away?

3) Lastly, sometimes when using a recipe that produces several 1/2 pints the jam gets cool as it sits waiting to be put in the jars and processed. Is that ok? It’s not sitting out forever but maybe up to 30min as the jars process for 10min each and I can only do 4 at a time.

Good job with all the canning!!! You guys were rocking it this weekend. First off – no worries about what you have done. It should all be okay – mainly because you are working with jams and jellies. But also, the USDA guidelines are very over protective just so that when you don’t quite meet the requirement, you are still within the safe margin.

Let me go through your questions below.

1) Yes, your unsterilized jars should be fine – but remember to sterilize in the future. The biggest risk you have is spoilage – nothing dangerous. It is a low risk at best. So as you open those jars, be sure to check for mold. If you see some, throw it out. I would not reprocess for that situation as the reprocessing would probably change your jam consistency and that might be worse than the slight chance of spoilage. I am betting that your jars will be just fine.

2) Yes they are good, but I would just eat those first. Here’s why: Having a larger headspace means that you may not have created as strong of a vacuum seal. So over time, it might unseal. Just put those towards the front of the shelf and eat them first. They are perfectly safe otherwise.

3) This last one is a little trickier because it is hard for me to judge how much the jam cooled while sitting to be processed. So let me explain the reasoning so you can understand how to handle it. The reason you want the jars to be as hot as possible as they go in is 1) So that a hot jar goes into the hot water bath. This prevents breakages due to temperature change. 2) So that the contents are already at a certain temperature and can then be heated inside the jar to a specific temp for a specific amount of time.

If the jam is very cool when you drop it into the water bath, the very center of the jar may not get to the required temperature within the processing time. So here is the solution: If you find that the last group is getting cool, simply process that last batch for a few more minutes (I would do 5 extra min). As for what you did already, they should be okay – but just watch for spoilage. That would be the worse case result – that your jam would not last as long on the shelf and spoil. But it would be just normal spoilage – nothing poisonous. However, given the fact that high sugar products hold the heat for long periods of time, I am betting your jam will be perfectly fine and will not spoil. Just next time, process longer on the last batch to be extra safe.

Hi, I have a question. I have canned green beans using the hot water bath for years. And I have never used viniger or anything. We have ate them with out haveing a bad taste or anyother problems. How would you know if they are not good?

Well, that is why it is so dangerous. You cannot smell or taste botulism. There is no way of detecting other than you get sick. Other bacteria will cause bulging of the jar lids or the seal will break. Or you might open a jar and it smells “off”. If that happens with any canned good, you must dispose of it. But with botulism, there is no way to tell.

I am assuming your gardenia mix is the standard pickle variety and is therefore safe to water bath can. The bubbles you describe are not a problem as far as safety. Whenever we can solid or chunky fruit/veggies, we try to get out all the air bubbles before processing so that the liquid is high enough to fully cover the food. (When food sticks out above the liquid, it will turn dark and/or mushy. But is still safe.) What you are describing is what happens when there were a few air bubbles left inside the jar before canning. It is safe and it happens all the time. Just know that as you move the jar around, the air may accumulate toward the top (lowering the liquid level) and some of the pickled veggies will stick out above the liquid line (turning dark).

Where bubbles ARE a problem, is when you see active moving bubbles inside the jar. That means fermentation or other bacteria growth is happening and that is a BAD sign. Since you just canned these, I do not believe that is your situation. But if you ever see bubbles moving inside a jar that is just sitting on the shelf, you need to discard the product.

I am wondering if you can process green beans and beets at the same time in the pressure cooker- just waiting the longer time that is required for beets – there is a 10 minute difference between the two. Would this hurt the green beans because they would be in the pressure cooker longer than necessary?

Hi Melinda- I think you mean a pressure “canner” not cooker. (You can’t can in a pressure cooker) But I knew what you meant. 😉

If you process the beans for 10 min extra, nothing bad happens as far as safety of the food. But the beans will get over processed and will be a bit mushy. It is just as if you over-cooked them in a pan of boiling water. ~Theresa

I have a question about Ball jar lids. I have been canning (water bath) for a few years now. And I’m very careful. I have not had a lid seal fail on me, although a couple failed to seal from the get-go. One of the joys of my life is hearing the healthy pop (or ping) that the seal makes after sitting on the counter for a few minutes, having just emerged from the boiling water. Lately, however, the Ball seals that I have been getting don’t produce that lovely pop. I might get a very faint one or none at all.(I am hard of hearing so my range is very narrow.) I check the seal the next day and it seems to be set. It is concave and I can pick the jar up holding the seal. But I still worry, because I heard no pop. It is my insurance of a healthy seal. Is there cause for concern. The seal “seems” to be good, even though there was no pop. I don’t want to be surprised down the line, or poisoned.

Ahhh yes, that lovely ping sound! We all love that don’t we? Not to worry Ted. If your lids are concave and you can gently pull on the lid without breaking the seal and you followed normal canning practices of waterbath or pressure canning your jars — then all is fine. You do NOT need to hear the ping. I’m not sure why you are not hearing it, but Ball did start making their lids differently lately (they are now BPA free) and that may be hindering the ping noise. I have not noticed any change on my jars. But I do always get a few quiet seals with every batch. Your jars should be fine. Enjoy!

I keep getting confused about something. Once my jars are packed, should I put them into the water bath ONCE it starts boiling, or put them in the water and then bring it to a boil? I know I start the timer when it is at a rolling boil, I just don’t know exactly when the jars should be put in.

You want to put your jars in the already boiling water. You should have the water heating while you make the canned food and then by the time you pack everything in jars, your water should be at a boil. Place the jars in the water, bring the water back up to a low boil and THEN start your timing.

Hi Denise – We are talking salsa here, right? You are in the safe-zone pH wise because your salsa should have an acid in it (vinegar, lemon juice etc.). So in other words, our biggest concern here is spoilage and a proper seal – not botulism. (You can cross that off your worry list). Still, deciding if you need to reprocess or not (so that you don’t waste a batch to spoilage) depends upon how the boil looked when you were processing the first time. The purpose of the lid being on the canner is to keep the temperature at the high point of the boiling temperature range consistently for the entire processing time. If the boil you saw was a full boil (rumbling and large bubbles), then I think you are fine. If however, you did not have a proper boil and only had a light simmer going and not a full boil – (with tiny or no bubbles at all), then I would say you are on the borderline of reprocessing them. I am betting you had a full boil, right? – in which case, you are fine.

If it were me, I would NOT reprocess them unless I only simmered them the first time. And if you don’t reprocess them, just be sure to check each jar for spoilage and a proper seal when you open it. I think you will be fine.

Hi Peggy- I’m so glad that no one got botulism in your family. I also have several family members who smoked their entire lives but never got cancer and lived to a ripe old age. But that does not mean we should smoke (or process foods improperly) given what we know today. But it does mean that I totally get what you are saying. Canning improperly does not mean you are guaranteed a poisoning. Totally true.

Please know that I am not basing my recommendations of pressure canning beans on my experience. I went through certification to teach canning (plus professional cooking school) and was taught the science behind the process. I am basing my comments on the USDA recommendations and numerous studies done in this country and others that prove botulism (and numerous bacteria) will and does grow in low acid foods (pH of 4.6 or higher). Beans fall into that category. The only way to assure that this can’t possibly happen is to can in a pressure canner which takes the food to a higher temperature (way above the normal boil temp) and that kills bacteria and the spores. So it is a matter of being safe. I prefer that over being “lucky”.

It is also important to know that there are many other things that can grow and go undetected besides botulism. I was using the most dangerous one as an example. But many bacteria are also carcinogens. To me, the point of canning our food is to know what is in it and to be safe. So I don’t want any possible carcinogens in my food.

So all this to say, I get that our grandparents/parents did things differently and nobody died. But we know so much more now! And we need to use that knowledge to process our food in the safest and most nutritional way possible. Knowledge is power.

Was wondering if you can use the bath method for canning green beans and if so, how long to boil them for. Have read different things about doing it this way, some say its safe and others says its not.

You CANNOT use the waterbath method to can beans unless you are making pickles out of them. Beans are low acid and you run an extremely high risk of botulism if they are not canned properly in a pressure canner. (You can die from botulism so it is a very serious thing.) Knowing if you can waterbath something or not completely depends upon the acidity of the food. Fruits, jams, jellies are high acid and CAN be waterbathed. But vegetables are low acid and must be pressure canned in a pressure canner.

The only time it is safe to use a waterbath on beans is when you are making a pickle and using vinegar in the brine – which then makes a high acid food. All other canning of beans must be done in a pressure canner.

Sure thing! And blanching and freezing is the easiest way to preserve them and they keep most of their nutrition that way. I actually prefer to freeze when I have a lot of veggies because it goes so fast. You did good!

Hello, I am looking for a rhubarb recipe or how to can rhubarb for pies or sauces. Is it the same as a strawberry pie filling recipe? Can you help me ? Any help is greatly appreciated since I have 5 rhubarb plants that I wish to preserve in as many ways as I possibly can. :~) Thank you

I grew up using a pressure cooker with my mom & aunts to can fruits and tomatos. My husband and I are shopping for a few acres property and am getting excited for a garden and fruit trees. I was thinking of digging out my mom’s old pressure cooker for canning. Any tips or articles you would suggest for using a pressure cooker? p.s. I’m loving this website!

Help I didn’t notice that the water boiled lower than top of jar when water bath canning tomatoes now what do I do? Also I always do qrts of them and they turn out fine this time I did some pints and none of them are “popping” after taken out to cool does this mean they might not have sealed?

Hi – I just stumbled upon your website. I just finished canning some pickles but I set the timer for 10 min. before the water had come back up to a boil. Am I correct in assuming that I now need to treat those as refrigerator pickles since they didn’t process at a boil the full 10 min.?

If the water was not at least at a simmer for the full time required in the recipe, then yes. They were not canned properly. If you have been storing them in the refrigerator, you can either consume them from there or you can reprocess them (heat the contents, place back into jars and then process again for the proper amount of time). The one problem with that (other than it is a total pain to do it) is that you will lose some of the crispness of your pickles (if they are cucumbers). But the flavor will stay the same.

I have a question about canning cranberry sauce. I make two batches of cranberry sauce every year, one with apple cider and bourbon, one with orange juice and rum, both with spices. I know that fatty and low acid foods can only be canned using a pressure canner, but I was wondering about if, given the alcohol, if the recipe I use would be safe to water bath can. I mean, both recipes use cranberries, alcohol, sugar, fruit juice, and spices, all of which seem like they would be safe to can, but I know you are really supposed to use a tried and true recipe for canning. What do you think?

Well Kat, everything you list would be just fine in a water bath canner. Fruit is a high acid food and does not have to be pressure canned. The alcohol would also help with preservation.

I would advise that you find a cranberry sauce recipe that is similar to yours and follow the processing times for that. Here is a recipe from the National Center for Home Food Preservation that is very safe to use.http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_02/cran_sauce.html

Maybe you can find one that is closer to what you are doing. Sounds yummy and should be very safe to can.

My mom just canned whole tomatoes tonight, and she insisted that the 35 minute water bath the instructions called for was too long. Instead, she only water bathed for 5 min. Why are the long processing times so important?

The time for processing is not arbitrary. That is the time it takes to get the internal temperature of the jar to a safe temperature to kill bacteria. If you process the jars for less time, you may still get a seal. BUT the bacteria inside may not have been properly destroyed. This can result in spoilage or illness.

Personally, I would not consume tomatoes that had only been processed for 5 minutes. I would empty the contents back into a pan. Reheat. Fill clean jars with the hot tomatoes and reprocess according to the recipe.

I can pickles in a cold water bath. I boil the water, salt and vinegar pour over the pickles place the lids and ring on and then place in cold water for about 12 hours, or until the pickles have cooled to room temp. My question is i sometimes get jars that seal and then unseal how would i prevent this from happening.

I know that it has worked for you sometimes, but as a Master Food Preserver I can’t tell you that canning that way is okay. It is not the proper way to can. The reason your jars are sometimes not sealing is because you are not heating the inside to the proper temperature to kill bacteria and draw a vacuum. Yes, you are pouring hot liquid in and putting the lid on. But to properly and safely can, the internal temperature must be maintained (with the lid on) for at least 10 minutes.

The reason you are sometimes told to process in the water bath for longer than 10 minutes is because it takes longer to reach that temperature (based on the thickness of the ingredients and the size of the jar). So you need to process in a HOT water bath for the length of time the recipe tells you.

As the jar cools, the air escapes and THAT creates the solid seal. I would guess that you have a weak vacuum seal. I would highly recommend that you water bath by placing the hot jars into a simmering water bath (covered by 2 inches of hot water) and process according to a standard recipe – probably 10 minutes or longer.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. I’m sure you method was easier, but you will have a better result (and be safer) if you water bath properly.

You absolutely CAN NOT water bath can corn!! DON’T DO IT! It is a vegetable and MUST be pressure canned. That is why you are not able to find any times for water bath canning it.

A water bath canned corn will grow botulism.

Find a Pressure Canner recipe and follow those instructions. If you don’t have a pressure canner, then I suggest you FREEZE the corn. Just BLANCH it first for 7 minutes (if on the ear) or 4 minutes (if just the kernel). Then FREEZE.

I just processed brined dill pickles and realized when I took the lid off of the canner after processing that I forgot to make sure the jars were covered with water. I would say almost two inches of the jars was not covered with water. They are still sealing, though. Is it okay to consume them still?

That’s a tough call. I feel better that they were pickles as that takes care of most of the bacteria problems. But before consuming each jar, I would double check the seal to be sure they are indeed sealed. Discard any that look funky or smell off after opening.

I was reading the posts on your site for the low sugar strawberry jam. THere were questions about using butter in the recipe. I have a favorite hot fudge recipe that uses sugar, corn syrup, cocoa , vanilla and butter. Is that safe to can? waterbath or pressure? I appreciate your help because I like to give this fudge sauce for Christmas gifts and it would be nice to get it done earlier than during the Christmas season.

Unfortunately, it is not safe to can chocolate sauce. The pH level does not make it a candidate for water bath and from what I understand, the density makes it unsafe for pressure. Here is a link to the USDA recommendation against canning chocolate sauce. They recommend freezing it.

I have a recipe for fuit ketchup that has veggies in it.( Celery, Onions , red and green peppers ) since ketchup has vinegar in it, is it safe to use the water bath mehod or should it be the pressure canner method ?

I think you are fine with the lids and I need you to clarify on the boiling. Here is the deal:

1) You boiled the heck out of that jar lid while processing, so you did NOT need to pre-sterilize it. In fact, any time you process in canning for longer than 10 minutes, you don’t even need to sterilize the jars! So you are fine there.

2) When you say that “the water was not at a constant boil”, do you mean that sometimes it died down in intensity? Or do you mean that you were adjusting the heat and it was not even simmering? Give me more details on what you mean.

Here is what you need to know: When canning, you need to process the jars at the boil for the time given in the recipe. You need to maintain that boil for the entire time. If the water stops boiling at any time during the process, bring it back up to a vigorous boil and begin the timing of the process over, from the beginning. I know…I know…that is a total pain. But that is how bacteria and molds inside the jar are killed off so that the tomatoes will last. They need to be brought to that internal temperature and maintained there for the time given in the recipe.

If you think your boil completely stopped for awhile during the process or if you are unsure – Don’t throw out your work! Just reprocess the jars. Now, they are currently not hot and if you drop them back into a boiling water bath as is, they can break. Your safest mode of action, would be to open all the jars, pour the contents into a pan (just to reheat), rinse the jars and refill with your hot tomatoes. Use NEW lids and process again for the full time at a full boil.

Sorry about that! I’m hoping that your boil just died down a bit in vigor, but did not stop completely. But only you know for sure. Good luck!

My girlfriend and I canned 100 lbs of tomatoes yesterday, which produced about 35 quarts and we’re so excited. Most of them are whole in their own juice and the others are a sauce recipe from the Ball Book. I have two questions…there were a few lids that were put on the cans that came directly out of the box and weren’t sterilized in boiling water. Also, I realized today that when processing the water wasn’t always at a constant boil. All jars processed for 45 minutes though and all seem to have sealed properly (none making a popping noise when lids are pushed down). Do I need to worry that they aren’t properly sterilized or processed?

So if I am understanding correctly, you canned green beans in a waterbath with no vinegar (just water in the jar) and even though they sealed, you put them in the refrigerator? Good move. They should be treated as fresh cooked green beans and eaten within a few days. Then discarded. They are unsafe to store on the shelf as they were not canned properly. They are in the perfect situation to grow the botulism toxin and would be DANGEROUS to leave on the shelf.

Sorry to be the bringer of bad news! But it is good you checked.

Next time you want to use the waterbath, use a vinegar recipe and make them as a quick pickle (which brings the pH into the safe zone for shelf storage) OR use a pressure canner (which processes above 240 degrees – the only way to kill the botulism spore as well as other bacteria).

My pressure canner has malfunctioned and I have canned green beans in a water bath canner. After research I find that this is not recommended. Can I still put them in the pressure canner and if so, for how long? I am working on this project tonight.

Thank you Theresa!! It’s clear that you know what you’re talking about so I thhink I’ll give it a try your way next time – everything you say make sense. Thank you for giving me such a detailed answer – I know how time consuming it is so double thanks! Keep up the good work. From a new fan, Crystal

Me again. I forgot to ask something else! I often switch off the canner (I have an electric one), check that the lids are sealed after about 5 minutes and then leave them in the water to cool down. Is this bad?

No it is not bad. If they are already sealed at the time that you leave them, I think it would be okay to let them cool in the water. But if they are not sealed, I would pull them out after the 5 minute wait and let them cool on a wood board or towel. The reason I recommend this is that I would worry that leaving them in the water would prevent a strong vacuum seal from forming. (The air inside the jar must escape). But if they are sealed already (already pulled their vacuum), then I think leaving them to cool in the water is fine.

Great article. I’ve been doing exactly as you say for years with great success, except for one detail: I only fill the water to cover the jars up to 3/4 so the water doesn’t cover the lids. I’Ve never had a problem. Have you ever tried this? The contents boil rapidly anyway. If possible, could you post an answer and email it to me aswell. Love the site and will be visiting more often.

The reason for covering the jars in water (having the jars sit below the water line by at least one inch) is two fold:

1) Covering the jars is the best way to assure that the tops of the jars and the upper half of the jar’s contents reach the proper temperature to kill any lingering bacteria. If they are not completely covered, the bottom of the jars will reach the proper temperature, but the tops may not.

2) It also super heats the air inside the jar and gives a better vacuum seal. More air is pulled from the jar during cooling and the vacuum is stronger. (Making the seal last longer)

Now, I realize that the method has worked for you in the past and sealed properly – and that is great. But it really is best to cover the jars in the water. That few degrees of difference can help prevent molds and bacteria that can cause spoilage and off flavors.

At least now you know the reason behind the method. I hope that helps.

I don’t give specific processing times because each recipe is completely different and you have to follow the processing time for that particular food and jar size. The processing time for a jam is different from a pickle or tomato sauce. But then all food within a category have different processing times as well because the contents vary in acidity and density.

It is important that you always try to follow a newer recipe that uses USDA recommendations. (All of the recipes I post here follow those guidelines.) You can also view the USDA guidelines directly and try some of the recipes they have listed there.

Whenever you can meat, you must use a pressure canner. Also, any time you have a tomato sauce with many other ingredients (onions, bell peppers, etc.) you must use a pressure canner because you will not know if the tomato sauce is still in the “safe” pH zone. So in your situation, you have both (meat and other ingredients besides tomatoes) so there is no doubt — use a pressure canner.

I know that is probably not the answer you were hoping to hear. But remember, if you don’t want to pressure can, just freeze your sauce! It will last up to a year that way too and is very easy to do!

I’ve been using a water bath canner and have learned something new today. In the past I removed the jars after the canning timing was over, did not wait the 5 minutes you and USDA recommend. Learn something new every day!

Me too Donna. I used to just pull them out when time was up. But the 5 minute wait is new. It has been found that by waiting those 5 minutes, you greatly increase your chance for a successful seal of the jar. So, it just ups your odds of a perfectly canned jar.

Can I can corn and green beans using the water bath method? IF yes, how?

Thanks Mary

P.S. Just finished canning 16 quarts and 13 pints of tomatoes with a friend to shar between the two of us. We would like to can corn and green beans but we are seeing that we might have to invest in a pressure canner.

Hi Mary, It sounds like you and your friend have been busy! Good for you!

You can only can corn and green beans in a water bath IF AND ONLY IF you do them as pickles using vinegar. Otherwise, they MUST be pressure canned. It has to do with the pH level.

Corn and green beans by themselves are low acid foods. That means that when canned without vinegar (an acid) they have to be processed at a very high temperature to kill all bad bacteria and botulism spores. This can only be done “under pressure” in a pressure canner.

However, if you use a pickle recipe that uses vinegar, you are essentially creating a “high acid” food that can be water bath canned. Botulism spores cannot grow in a high acid environment. So, you don’t need the extra heat or the extra equipment (pressure canner).

So the choice is up to you. Do you want to invest in a new pressure canner and process the corn and green beans as regular vegetables? Or do you want to make something like pickled green beans or a corn relish using vinegar and the water bath method?

A third option is to freeze the corn and green beans. No special equipment necessary! You just blanch the veggies first to kill enzymes and freeze in air tight freezer bags. It might be the ticket for you.

While you may not need to sterilize jars for every canning job, I long ago decided that rinsing/washing canning jars and loading them into the canning pot as I set it on the stove to heat significantly reduces the amount of handling–and the amount of energy consumption–for every canning job. You need to heat the jars and the water in the canning pot anyway, so why not heat them together?

I fill the pot so the water covers the jars as they stand (full of water also) upright in the rack. When the water boils, I usually wait ten minutes before starting to fill jars with produce. Then, for the first three or four jars, I lift a jar from the pot, emptying the jar into the canner. When I return a produced-filled, covered jar to the pot, the water level rises. I empty boiling water from later jars into the sink or into my greywater collection bucket. If I left all the water in the canning pot and filled all the jars with produce, the pot would overflow.

Well, it looks like you and I are in complete agreement here. I too believe in heating the jars and water together as I called out in step 3 above. I have seen people heat the jars in a separate pot, but what a waste of energy!

You bring up a good point about the water level. For most half-pint and pint jars (the most commonly used sizes) your water level would not significantly change. But if you are using large quart sized jars, you would definitely want to pour the water from inside a few of the jars into something else. After cooling, we use the water in the garden.

I love all this info on canning! It is so helpful at this time of year. I love to can and do it all the time but I never knew about not having to sterilize jars with certain processing times. What a time saver that tip is! Thanks so much. -Karen

Thanks Teresa for a terrific article. I have always dried or freeze my bounties. But now I’m living in a small apartment and don’t have room for a big freezer. I’m also thinking that freezing my not be the smartest of options because it uses a lot of energy to keep them running. I’ve been leaning more and more towards canning because it makes more cents/sense.

My mother and women relatives always got together at our house and canned during the summer and fall harvests. We had lots of great tasting home canned fruits, jams, jellies, and vegetables through the winter. Though I’ve missed some of this summers bounty for canning, your article has inspired me to start canning after the weekend. Thanks for getting me moving on this!

You are correct Evelyn. Freezing is a simple way to preserve, but it does take more energy to store. Also, many people worry about the possibility of a power outage and loosing all that wonderful food. So canning might be the answer for some that have those worries.

I am so glad that you are taking the plunge! Keep us posted on how it goes. And don’t feel that you have missed out. I preserve things all through fall and winter. There are many possibilities. So stay tuned for more!

I’m the founder/moderator for Punk Domestics (www.punkdomestics.com), a community site for those of use obsessed with, er, interested in DIY food. It’s sort of like Tastespotting, but specific to the niche. I’d love for you to submit this to the site. Good stuff!